Improved controls unveiled for Baker Perkins mixers

Plant bakers using any Tweedy mixing system for the Chorleywood bread making process can now update their machines with a new control system

Baker Perkins spokesperson Keith Graham said bakers with old Tweedy machines will enjoy the most dramatic improvements in terms of operating efficiency, ease of use, and reporting.

Key advances on previous generation ​

But for bakers using the previous generation system, Graham said the new controls offer two standout advantages.

Firstly, the new system features a new recipe management system to enable more immediate changes to recipe and process settings. This allows changes to be made up to the moment when mixing starts instead of having a one or two mix delay before new settings take effect.

Secondly, the new system allows bakers to control multiple mixers more easily and effectively. Baker Perkins claims schedules are “dynamically optimised” under the new system to maximise plant output and ensure there are no delays in using dough, which might cause quality or downstream operational problems.

Graham said the common scheduling is especially important when there is a problem with one mixer because it adjusts the settings on the others so they adapt. If insufficient dough is being added to one mixer the others will automatically adjust to compensate.

Additional new features​

Other features of the new control system include a filtering of alarms so that the primary cause of a stoppage is displayed and not the consequential alarms. This reduces time needed to identify and solve a problem.

Another new addition is process alarms that alert operators of potential variations that can affect the dough so that downstream stoppage can be averted.

With regards to improvement in reporting, the new system includes aggregated ingredient data as well as real time and historical trending of key parameters such as mix time, energy, temperature, and pressure/vacuum. An alarm database is also built up. Baker Perkins claims these reporting features are useful for real time operation but also in the development of long term process improvement programmes.